TPM: Massive Domestic Spying Investigation Coming Soon? (Salon obtained a memo)

[maddezmom]

Massive Domestic Spying Investigation Coming Soon?
By Andrew Tilghman - July 23, 2008, 10:37AM
After Democrats failed to muster any substantive opposition to the Bush White House's overhaul of domestic spying laws just a few weeks ago, it would be a striking turn of events if the House leadership launched into a massive, multi-decade investigation of how the government has been monitoring its own citizens since the Cold War.

But that's what Salon speculates about today in a far-reaching report from Capitol Hill.


While reporting on domestic surveillance under Bush, Salon obtained a detailed memo proposing such an inquiry, and spoke with several sources involved in recent discussions around it on Capitol Hill. The memo was written by a former senior member of the original Church Committee; the discussions have included aides to top House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers, and until now have not been disclosed publicly.

more:http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/massive_domestic_spying.php

Exposing Bush's historic abuse of power
Salon has uncovered new evidence of post-9/11 spying on Americans. Obtained documents point to a potential investigation of the White House that could rival Watergate.

Editor's note: This article is part of a Salon investigative series on spying inside the United States by the Bush administration. Research support for the article was provided by the Nation Institute Investigative Fund.

By Tim Shorrock

July 23, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- The last several years have brought a parade of dark revelations about the George W. Bush administration, from the manipulation of intelligence to torture to extrajudicial spying inside the United States. But there are growing indications that these known abuses of power may only be the tip of the iceberg. Now, in the twilight of the Bush presidency, a movement is stirring in Washington for a sweeping new inquiry into White House malfeasance that would be modeled after the famous Church Committee congressional investigation of the 1970s.

While reporting on domestic surveillance under Bush, Salon obtained a detailed memo proposing such an inquiry, and spoke with several sources involved in recent discussions around it on Capitol Hill. The memo was written by a former senior member of the original Church Committee; the discussions have included aides to top House Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers, and until now have not been disclosed publicly.

Salon has also uncovered further indications of far-reaching and possibly illegal surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency inside the United States under President Bush. That includes the alleged use of a top-secret, sophisticated database system for monitoring people considered to be a threat to national security. It also includes signs of the NSA's working closely with other U.S. government agencies to track financial transactions domestically as well as globally.

The proposal for a Church Committee-style investigation emerged from talks between civil liberties advocates and aides to Democratic leaders in Congress, according to sources involved. (Pelosi's and Conyers' offices both declined to comment.) Looking forward to 2009, when both Congress and the White House may well be controlled by Democrats, the idea is to have Congress appoint an investigative body to discover the full extent of what the Bush White House did in the war on terror to undermine the Constitution and U.S. and international laws. The goal would be to implement government reforms aimed at preventing future abuses -- and perhaps to bring accountability for wrongdoing by Bush officials.

more:http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/07/23/new_churchcomm/index.html

[Larkspur]

1. Government reforms are no good if our elected leaders choose to ignore them and

no one holds them accountable.

[maddezmom]

2. Congress Admits to Salon: Larger, Illegal Domestic Data Interception, Raising Questions About 9-11,

Congress Admits to Salon: Larger, Illegal Domestic Data Interception, Raising Questions About 9-11, War Crimes

By testing - July 23, 2008, 1:21PM
TPMM discloses a Salon report showing Members of Congress know about a massive, still not fully disclosed domestic spying operation spanning decades. It appears Members of Congress know some things which have not been disclosed: Evidence linking Members of Congress with war crimes planning and evidence destruction.

The Congress turned a blind eye to illegal activity. This sent Congress and the President down a slippery slope. They jointly refused to fully enforce FISA. This meant the President had leverage to convince Members of Congress to turn a blind eye to war crimes.


It's unclear how this data base has or has not captured evidence related to Member of Congress complicity with war crimes:

A. How has illegally captured information been used to create "investigative leads" which violate the warrant requirement?

B. Are members of law enforcement authorized to lie about the real source of this evidence -- illegal data collection -- during trial?

C. How many criminal defendants have been convicted using illegally captured information?

D. How much evidence -- of unlawful member of Congress complicity with war crimes -- has been intercepted with this system, but has not been adequately provided to international war crimes prosecutors?

E. What is the excuse of the US Attorneys for not using this captured information to prosecute the President and members of Congress for complicity with war crimes?

more:http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/07/congress-admits-to-salon-large.php